Key-ring.



L. MYERS. KEY RING.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2, 1909.

969,180, Patented Sept. 6, 1910.

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APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2, 1909. I v 969, 1 80. Patented Sept. 6, 1910.

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UNITED sTAifns PATENT OFFICE.

LEOPOLD MYERS, 0F BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

KEY-RING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 2, 1909.

Patented Sept. 6, 1910. Serial No. 499,663.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEOPOLD MYERS, a subject of His Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Birmingham, England, steel-pen manufacturer, have invented new and useful Improvements in Key-Rings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention consists of the herein described improved key ring which is so constructed and arranged that any key can be more quickly removed from or threaded on to it than is possible with key rings of the split ring type, and moreover my improved key ring will occupy less space in the pocket than will an ordinary round key ring.

I will describe my invention by referring to the accompanying drawings on which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a key ring constructed in accordance with this in "ention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same looking toward the right hand side of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same looking toward the left hand side of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a back elevation of the same; Fig. 5 is a back elevation of the same key ring open; Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the same key ring showing how its two parts will fold together; Fig. 7 is a plan of the sheet metal blank for forming one half of the key ring; Fig. 8 is a plan of the sheet metal blank for forming the other half of the key ring; Fig. 9 is a back elevation of a modified form of my improved key ring; Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 11 is a front elevation of a further modification of my invention and Fig. 12 is a side elevation of the same.

I will first describe the arrangement of this invention illustrated by Figs. 1 to 8 both inclusive.

A key ring constructed in accordance with this invention is made in two parts preferably two semicircular parts 1, 2, which are loosely jointed together atone end that is at 3 so that their other ends 4, 5, can be opened apart as in Fig. 5 and these latter ends are made with a spring hook and eye connection so that they can be connected together or disconnected as required. It will be seen that the half ring 1 is made with an eye 4 at one end and the other half ring 2 is made with a spring hook 5 at that end which is adapted to engage in the eye a.

The joints of the two parts 1, 2, of the ring are so constructed that the two parts can be folded together or nearly together as in Fig. 6 to occupy less space in the pocket; this is done by the end 3 of the half ring 1 being made as a comparatively large loop or eye which engages in a hole or eye 6 pierced in the other half of the ring 2, this hole being so shaped as to form the cross bar 7 which passes through the loop or eye 3. Similarly the end 4 of the half ring 1 is made with a hole which forms the end cross bar 8 for the spring hook 5 to engage with, the connections being so loose that the two halves 1, 2 of the ring can be folded as in Fig. 6.

In order to place a key on the ring, or to remove a key therefrom, the spring hooked end 5 of the half 2 of thering has to be disconnected from the eyed end 4: of the other half 1 of the ring thus opening the two halves of the ring as in Fig. 5 and enabling a key to be readily removed or replaced.

The halves or parts 1, 2, of the ring are by preference made from two fiat semi-circular sheet metal blanks, the blank for forming the half ring 1 is shown in Fig. 7, and the blank for forming the half ring 2 is shown by Fig. 8. It will be seen that one end of the semi-circular blank 1 is pierced with a hole 4 for the spring hook to engage with, and the other end is made with a tongue 3 which can be passed through the hole 6 of the other blank 2 and bent around so as to form the loop or eye connection as aforesaid. The other blank 2 has the said hole 6 in one end for the tongue 3 to engage with and at the other end has a tongue 5 which is bent so as to form the spring hook 5. The spring hook part 5 has an ordinary leaf spring 9 which is riveted or otherwise fixed to the face of the half ring 2 so as to spring outwardly underneath the end of the hook 5 as in an ordinary spring hook and thus make the hook secure when the two parts of the ring are closed together as aforesaid.

It will be understood that before the hooked end 5 of the part 2 can be disconnected from the end 4 of the part 1 the spring 9 has to be pressed back against the blank 2 to permit of the hook 5 passing out of the hole Although it is preferred to make the key ring in two semi-circular parts or halves as above described, still the key ring can be similarly made in a greater number of parts hinged and jointed together so as to make up the complete circle or other shape of the key ring. Also if desired the so called ring instead of being circular as above described, may be of any other suitable shape such for instance as an approximately square shape as in Figs. 9 and 10, or approximately triangular as in Figs. 11 and 12. The approximately square key ring (Figs. 9 and 10) is practically the same as the circular ring above described and illustrated by Figs. 1 to 8 except that the two halves of the ring are shaped so as to approximately form a square instead of a circle.

In the key ring shown by Figs. 11 and 12 the part 2 is shaped so as to roughly form two sides of a triangle and the part 1 is comparatively straight so as to form the third side of the same. The parts 1 and 2 are hinged together at 3 similarly as above described with reference to the key ring shown by Figs. 1 to 8, and the other ends of the parts 1 and 2 are removably connected together by the part 1 being pierced with the said eye 41 which is engaged by the spring hooked like end 5 of the part 2.

WVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A key ring formed of tWo sheet metal blanks each having a hole laterally therethrough near one end and a lateral tongue at its other end, one of the tongues being passed through one of-the holes and bent over to form a hinge and the other tongue curved to form a hook, and a spring carried by one of the parts and engaging with said hook, said hook being adapted to engage with the hole in the other member so that the parts are pivotally connected at both ends.

2. A key ring formed of two sheet metal blanks, each having a hole at one end, and a tongue at the other, one tongue passing through one hole and being bent over to form a'hinge so that the blanks may be folded together face to face and the other tongue being bent to form a hook to engage with the other hole, and a leaf spring secured to the member carrying the hook and engaging with the end of the said hook.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEOPOLD MYERS.

WVitnesses CHARLES BOSWORTI-I KETLEY, THOMAS J OHN ROWE. 

